The 1981 Trek 710 Project
 

So I've been acquiring a lot of Treks lately cause I like them but each has become a project bike, mostly for paint ('84 Trek 760), some for frame work ('84 Trek 610) and one was just to small ('85 Trek 620), which was a bummer. So I'm looking through ebay last week when a 710 goes off in my size. I pull the trigger. Paid to much and looks rough but I don't care.
So I'll just keep this thread up for the build so I know what I did later on when my memory goes further down the rabbit hole.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=284169 http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=284170

Looks like someone rode it as a cross bike. The Rigida Rims are beat up. The rear is a lost cause. I might be able to salvage the front. I'm sad but I'm not to upset... Now if they had been some Mavic GP4's...

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=284171

The shape of the Concor makes me sadder than the Rigida's. I still might use it on the Trek 760 though since I am going old school on that build...someday

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=284172 http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=284173

The wheels will probably get pulled apart as the rear is gone and the spokes are galvanized.

I'll keep the brakes. Everything else will be swapped.
I'm going 10s Campy, thereby allowing me to swap my wheels between my other bikes easily. I'll probably keep an SR front derailluer on it since you can't get anything in a 28.6 hardly anymore. The Veloce 34/50 compact crank will move from the '85 SR300 and I'll replace that one with a newer style Veloce UT crank. That way this one at least sports the Phill BB and square tape cranks. Nitto Technomic Stem and Noodle bars. Velo Orange hammered fenders (if they fit) and the Grand Cru Headset. Some leather or leather type wrap with some gel pads and a Selle An-Atomica saddle should get me comfy. I'm still deciding whether or not I want to grab a VO Constructeur front rack for it. But then I need the bag...

I'm keeping the paint for right now, just some cleaning and some wax. I may add some bosses to it later on when I'm ready to repaint it (It needs another bottle and pump peg for me) but I'm going to practice on the 610 first.

That bike looks like it'd be fun.

So for 1981- the x10 series frames would be the 'touring' series, right?

It's more of a sport touring frame. They didn't really have those designations back then but it has a longer wheelbase than their Pro frames of the time.

I've got a soft stop for the old Treks myself... looking forward to your build

I'm interested to see where this goes

Finally some progress
 

Ok so its taken a long time...This first picture is progress from last week. The frame has been cleaned, the seat tube has been honed, the frame prepped with framesaver, polished and waxed. Not that it looks like it with all the chips and scraps on it. It came with 27" knobbies so I suspect I saved it from a life of cyclecross. Surprisingly for the scraps and missing paint there aren't any dings in the tubes.

http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/x...0/P1010001.jpg

http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/x...0/P1010003.jpg

I had to order a new Huret downtube shifter clamp since the campy ones I have are all built in for the friction shifters. The Huret was the only thing I could find that was exactly like braze on shifter bosses and would accept either my Campy shifters or my Shimano shifters. I also had to order brown brake cables at the same time so all that took an extra week. The last couple of days have been long work days so I only get a little done. Most of it has been spent stuffing the high profile 32c's I'm running under the brakes and front rack mounts. And don't get me started on where I have to go to find M5 and M6 nuts and bolts. I think they are made of gold, not stainless steel, they are so elusive at what we have for hardware stores anymore. but the rack is finally mounted, the seat has a seatbolt and none of the 32c's currently rub anything. But I am bummed I won't be running fenders with them like the Cannondale SR400. If I went to 28's I wouldn't have a problem..

I had to swap out my Campy front derailleur for the Suntour because the cable bolt threads wound up being stripped out on the Campy. I might swap it our for something else but right now I'll try it.

http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/x...0/P1010009.jpg

http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/x...0/P1010007.jpg

http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/x...0/P1010008.jpg

I had an '82 710 for a bit, and all I could fit in the rear was a 25mm, no fender. There was much more clearance under the fork crown, if I recall.
Nice frame though. The ride was super

To mount modern derailleurs on skinny vintage 28.6 down tubes, use braze on adapters and the braze on type derailleurs. The adapters cost $20 maybe.

For the stripped out Campy FD, if you cannot tap the hole to a larger bolt, perhaps you could drill the hole through the derailleur arm, then use a longer bolt and nut. A bit ghetto but who's going to look that closely?

As for the fender clearance, would a 650 conversion allow you to run wide-ish tires and have fenders?

This is cool. My next frame will probably end up being an early 80's Trek as I now miss my 620 sumthin' fierce. Well, it's gonna be steel anyway. Great work!

keep it coming, i have an 82 412 that i built up last winter, and im planning on building up a 85 460 frame.. that 710 is a beauty .. scratches and all..

I thought I had provided an update on this thread... Apparently not. So here is a pic of the Trek in current form. I had it built up with some 700x32's on A719 rims with Dia Compe Gran Compe brakes and some Nitto Noodles wrapped in brown leather. Last year I got the itch for wider tires but didn't have enough vertical clearance so I decided to make the switch to 650b's. Built some up with the Soma Weymouth rims and my last SRAM i-Light hub. Mucked around with the mounting to get the light off of the axle (why they don't weld a threaded lug on the front rack is beyond me) and decided I wanted to sit up and enjoy the ride hence it got the VO tourist bars and the Brooks B67 from the Selle Anatomica it was sporting. This pic was taken today and is the maiden voyage to the grocery store for the Carradice Super Shoppers. It was a nice ride even with all the weight in the rear. It kept tipping back when I mounted it.

It has kept the same drivetrain since I built it a while ago, Campagnolo Veloce/Centaur 10s with modified bar end shifters on the downtube. The last thing I'm gonna do next is put a shorter stem on it to hopefully take some pressure off my shoulders. I bought the Tektro brakes to get it on the road faster but it is official, I HATE DUAL PIVOT BRAKES! Ah...there, I said it. You can't tighten the play out of them and they squeal and chatter till the possums play dead. I will take ANY single pivot brake and make them work better than these things. I have procured some nice crappy Schwinn brakes to work on and will probably replace the brakes also . The 650bs do not provide any clearance with those big honking platform pedals so I have to be careful around turns but other than that it is a lovely ride on the trails around here and going to the store of which I am doing more and more on the bike, even to go get lunch.

Next I am getting the parts together to build my '84 Trek 720. 700x42s I am hoping.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4912db0a46.png

Just got back from a 27 mile ride on my 83 Trek 700. It is cataloged for only one year but shares pretty similar geometry with these early 700 series bikes and is also in full 531 tubing. Just really nice riding as a sporty bike; not a race bike.

That looks like a fun bike! Have you thought about any of the center pull brakes? The Weinmann/MAFAC/Compass/ReneHerse options?


I have an 85- so it's essentially the same bike- and I think that's a really big stretch- I'm running 35s with SKS fenders and it's tight. My guess is 38 tops.

I'm looking forward to your build!!!

I have never been able to get center pulls to feel good to me, even when I worked at a shop and could get new parts.... the Rene Herse are quite nice but there is NWIH I will be parting with that much cash for brakes. :eek:! And they don't include nuts and bolts! I am in the wrong business, lol.
Maybe if I ever find a dumpster pair of Mafac's I can work on them and try again but in the meantime I will live with these and get some singles to work. Maybe I will take these apart and work on the fit to get the chatter out of them.

A few updates to it. I think it looks better now and the shorter stem makes my neck and shoulders much happier. It is a 70mm, I thought it was 60... oh well. The grips work with the color better than the blue mushrooms and I can move about on them. The taillight I have been wanting for a while now because it never fails, I jump on to ride, and because I have a dyno front light, I think I'm good so I forget to turn on the cateye in the rear until 5 blocks later. Now, I don't have to worry about it. The tailight is always on. I went out in daylight and got to use my bell also. People seem to be much nicer when you ring at them vs yelling "ON YOUR LEFT".

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...11e9b3902d.jpg
Shorter stem and new grips
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...53186f4da5.jpg
I've always wanted a bell
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e99334acd8.jpg
Supernova tailight. A taillight I can't forget to turn on. Works with the standlight also.